August Restored Prairie is blooming!

Go take a walk, reduce your stress and blood pressure, and clear you mind.  One place you can get away is the botanical gardens near you.  The Morton Arboretum has established a restored Illinois prairie that comes alive in August!  Many native plants a now blooming just as in times of the first pioneers. www.mortonarb.org

While you are there, don't miss the huge metal origami sculptures amongst the trees.

Dozens of awe-inspiring large-scale metal sculptures based on the traditional Japanese art of paper folding will engage you on paths through the Arboretum’s spectacular landscape. Created by Santa Fe-based artists Kevin and Jennifer Box, the exhibition will feature installations, gallery works, and the Boxes' own compositions, as well as collaborative works with some of the world’s top origami artists.

Each of the sculptures in the Origami in the Garden collection started with a single piece of folded paper created by some of the world’s most noted origami artists, including Tim Armijo, Te Jui Fu, Beth Johnson, Michael G. LaFosse, and Robert J. Lang. To recreate each piece for Origami in the Garden, Kevin Box pioneered a unique process of lost wax casting and fabrication to capture the delicate details of folded paper in museum-quality metals.